It has been two years, two months and 21 days since we were gifted with a new book from New York Times bestselling author, Karen Marie Moning—otherwise known as an eternity to her fiercely loyal fan-base. The last installment in the delectably dark FEVER series was ICED; an urban fantasy told from the point of view of spunky, swaggering teen, Dani O’Malley, through a Fae-infested, hoar-frost covered, dystopian Dublin.
MacKayla Lane came to Dublin to try to find her sister’s murderer. To say that she got more than she bargained for would be a gross understatement. She discovers that she hails from an ancient bloodline of sidhe-seers (protectors of humans from the exquisitely beautiful, deadly Fae) can detect Fae objects of power, and is quickly sucked into a brutal word of deadly adversaries and terrifying truths.
With the all-consuming Jericho Barrons and her newly adopted sister-and-sidhe-seer at arms, Dani, at her side, she fights tooth and nail to keep Dublin safe as the walls dividing Earth from Faery come crashing down. With Moning’s newest release, BURNED, hitting shelves tomorrow (Tuesday, January, 20), we catch back up with Mac in post-war-Dublin amid zombie-eating-wraiths (as Dani likes to call them), multiple new threats to the city she loves and sexual tension so thick you could cut it with the sword of light.
As a bonafide, card-carrying member of the KMM fanclub, or the Moning Maniacs, as we’re called, there was never a doubt in my mind that I would love BURNED just as much as I have the rest of the FEVER series. I had also read from several reliable sources that BURNED was the best volume of the series thus far. Those are bold words, very bold words indeed. And yet, how very, very true they were.
BURNED is Moning’s best writing to date, bar none, and by no means has her ability ever lacked before; BURNED is just so sensationally beautiful that it transcends all of her past contributions to the literary universe. Moning’s ability to spin a web of imagery so vivid that pictures, sounds and tastes dance through your mind is unmatched. Rivaled only by the masterful way in which human emotion, devastation, heartbreak, lust and yearning leap off of her pages. When you are reading a KMM book, you will be immersed completely in the world of her choosing; and in the FEVER world, you will travel to a great many exotic and terrifying realms.
So what is it about BURNED that sets it apart from its six predecessors? I’ll let you know when I figure that out for myself. Is it the twist(s) that left my jaw agape and my tongue mute for several long, stunned moments? Or maybe the steamy scenes Moning is so famous for that leave us hot, bothered and uncomfortably aroused? Or perhaps the expansion of mysterious characters’ back-stories that allows us a glimpse into what makes them tick? Maybe it’s the discovery of new strengths within our favorite underdogs? Or perhaps it’s simply how all of these things meld together into one breathtakingly beautiful aria from a truly talented writer whose ability to weave vivid imagery is unlike that of any other novelist.
I suppose you’ll just have to find out for yourself. Because this Moning Maniac is ready to crack that hardcover open and start it all over again. Who knows how many things I missed in my haste to devour it with the insatiability of a vampiric Shade?